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PODCAST

The Breakdown

A daily analysis of macroeconomics, bitcoin, geopolitics and big picture power shifts, hosted by Nathaniel Whittemore @nlw. The Breakdown is part of Blockworks. Subscribe to The Breakdown newsletter: https://the-breakdown.carrd.co/

business investing

All Episodes

12:32

Crypto Market Structure Slips to 2026

The Breakdown ·

2025/12/18

Congress has officially kicked the crypto market structure bill into 2026, a move that surprises no one but still carries real risk as negotiations drag into an election year shaped by shutdown fights, midterms, and deep partisan disagreements over ethics, DeFi compliance, and stablecoin yields. Despite the delay, momentum hasn’t fully died, with ongoing talks, a draft still to come, and the possibility that industry lobbying dynamics could shift the calculus next year. Meanwhile, regulators aren’t

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10:54

Bitcoin Slides Again as Anger Takes Over the Bear Market

The Breakdown ·

2025/12/17

Bitcoin takes another sharp leg down, wiping out leveraged longs and pushing market sentiment firmly into the anger phase of this bear market. Thin liquidity, failed dip-buying on leverage, and continued whale selling are making a durable bottom hard to form, even as smaller wallets continue to accumulate. Macro pressure from a hawkish Fed, year-end risk aversion, and broader market unease are weighing on prices, while MicroStrategy’s latest Bitcoin buys fail to spark a rally. Still, a more

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11:45

DTCC Puts US Securities On Chain

The Breakdown ·

2025/12/16

Today’s episode breaks down a landmark moment for tokenization as the Depository Trust Company receives SEC approval to begin putting US public market securities on chain. The discussion covers what the no-action letter allows, why DTCC’s role matters, how this could enable 24/7 settlement and programmable assets for stocks, ETFs, and Treasuries, and why this move represents the most credible path yet toward decentralized capital markets. The episode also examines parallel developments from

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10:55

The Five Most Important Stories in Crypto Last Week

The Breakdown ·

2025/12/13

This Friday Five breaks down a pivotal Fed meeting marked by rare open dissent that signals a splintered FOMC and a far more politicized, harder-to-read monetary path into 2026, including what the new liquidity program really means for markets. The episode then turns to Washington, where the crypto market structure bill remains stuck in a late-year quagmire over DeFi AML rules and stablecoin yield, before digging into why markets appear finished with Bitcoin treasury companies after a high-profile

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10:16

The Fed Is Fracturing

The Breakdown ·

2025/12/12

Today’s episode breaks down one of the most contentious FOMC meetings in nearly a decade. A deeply divided Fed delivered a rate cut that may also mark the end of the cutting cycle, with multiple dissents on both the dovish and hawkish sides and an unusually fractured dot plot. The conversation explores what the dissents reveal about competing inflation and labor-market risks, why Powell says the Fed is effectively flying blind without fresh BLS data, and how alternative data is shaping the debate

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11:49

Bitcoin Treasury Honeymoon Ends

The Breakdown ·

2025/12/11

Today’s episode breaks down the rough NYSE debut of 21 Capital, whose immediate drop suggests markets are no longer willing to award premiums to companies whose only model is selling shares to buy more Bitcoin. The discussion examines why treasury firms are being valued at 1x, what 21’s attempt to build real Bitcoin-based businesses signals about the future of the category, and how shifting analyst frameworks—from Standard Chartered’s recalibration to institutional-flow–driven models—reflect a

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10:18

MicroStrategy’s Big Buy Raises New Questions

The Breakdown ·

2025/12/10

Today’s episode examines Washington’s increasingly public admission that the market-structure bill is stuck, with key senators signaling that negotiations have become frustrating and unlikely to resolve this year. From there the focus turns to MicroStrategy’s return to large-scale Bitcoin purchases, the funding mechanics behind it, and the growing debate over whether the company is executing long-term strategy or edging into risk.Enjoying this content? SUBSCRIBE to the Podcast:

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12:42

Crypto Regulation Hits a DeFi Wall

The Breakdown ·

2025/12/09

A crypto regulatory update looking at why the long-promised market structure bill is likely slipping into next year as negotiators get bogged down in stablecoin yield, conflict-of-interest language, and the thorny problem of DeFi. The episode also covers the SEC’s increasingly sharp divide with TradFi over tokenization rules and a surprising bit of good news from the CFTC on approved spot markets, setting the stage for a pivotal regulatory year ahead. Headlines at the end. Enjoying this content?

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12:45

The 5 Most Important Stories in Crypto Last Week

The Breakdown ·

2025/12/06

This Friday 5 runs through a week defined by Larry Fink’s renewed tokenization push, MicroStrategy’s move to eliminate default risk, major wealth platforms finally opening their doors to Bitcoin, and a macro backdrop where liquidity interventions are starting to matter again. It all culminates in a price week that didn’t resolve the bear case but made the conversation far more interesting, with volatility returning even if direction hasn’t. Headlines include: BlackRock’s policy-facing tokenization

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10:38

Fink, Armstrong, and the DealBook Turning Point

The Breakdown ·

2025/12/05

Larry Fink and Brian Armstrong hit the DealBook Summit with a message that couldn’t be clearer: crypto is now a mainstream financial conversation, not a curiosity. Their joint interview laid out Bitcoin’s purpose, tokenization’s inevitability, and why banks racing toward stablecoins signal a structural shift—not a passing cycle. Plus: MicroStrategy fights for MSCI inclusion, Japan prepares a major crypto-tax cut, and new data shows Bitcoin settling trillions as it cements itself as global financial

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11:10

Tokenization’s Starting Gun

The Breakdown ·

2025/12/04

Larry Fink makes his most explicit case yet that tokenization is entering its internet-1996 moment, and the rest of Wall Street is suddenly lining up behind him. Today’s episode looks at why this shift matters, how macro liquidity and Fed policy are shaping Bitcoin’s rebound, and why regulators and major exchanges are treating tokenized assets as the next frontier of financial infrastructure.Enjoying this content? SUBSCRIBE to the Podcast: https://pod.link/1438693620 Watch on YouTube:

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10:46

The Walls Around Crypto Are Finally Cracking

The Breakdown ·

2025/12/03

Today’s episode looks at how the traditional financial and policy apparatus around Bitcoin and crypto is shifting from quiet hostility to reluctant accommodation, and what that means for market psychology at this stage of the drawdown. From MicroStrategy building a $1.44B cash buffer to avoid selling BTC, to Kalshi’s move toward on-chain tokenization, to Congress’ blistering report on Operation Chokepoint 2.0 and the about-face from Vanguard and Bank of America on Bitcoin access, the signs of a

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12:10

Bitcoin’s Worst November in Years

The Breakdown ·

2025/12/02

November just logged Bitcoin’s ugliest performance since 2018, with a seasonally strong month instead turning into a mini crypto winter driven by thin liquidity, excess leverage, and global macro jitters from Japan to the Fed. This episode digs into what really caused the drawdown, whether the pain is flushing out the froth ahead of a healthier 2026, and how to think about the latest macro correlations—plus a fresh round of Tether FUD, new clarity from MicroStrategy on what would actually make them

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11:39

Bitcoin’s Fragile Recovery

The Breakdown ·

2025/11/26

Bitcoin is climbing back from Friday’s drop, but the bounce looks weak and uncertain. Liquidity is shallow, flows are scattered, and the futures market just saw one of its sharpest resets of the cycle. Analysts say consolidation is more likely than a clean reversal, even as rate-cut odds rise and long-term holders accumulate. Institutional sentiment is mixed, CME derivatives are hitting records, and ETF flows remain soft, leaving a market that feels steadier than last week but far from confident the

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10:17

Scott Besson Walks Into a Bitcoin Bar

The Breakdown ·

2025/11/25

Bitcoin steadied after a brutal week that saw cascading liquidations, battered ETFs, and growing questions about whether the drawdown was macro-driven rather than crypto-specific. Analysts are watching for early bottom signals as funding rates flip negative, long-term buyers nibble, and headline flows finally stabilize. But the bigger story is the macro backdrop: AI stocks sliding, liquidity tightening, Fed speakers clashing, and the White House sending Scott Besson on another weekend media

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30:01

The Five Most Important Stories This Week

The Breakdown ·

2025/11/23

NLW and Scott Melker cover why this may be the first baby bear market in our new tradfi integrated paradigm.Enjoying this content? SUBSCRIBE to the Podcast: https://pod.link/1438693620 Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheBreakdownBW Subscribe to the newsletter:

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9:48

[CORRECT] Fed Minutes Slam the Door on Rate...

The Breakdown ·

2025/11/22

The latest Fed minutes show a deeply divided committee but a clear signal: no December rate cut is coming. Markets reacted fast, sending Bitcoin tumbling to new lows as leveraged traders piled in and ETF investors pulled out. NLW unpacks what the minutes reveal about the economy, why rate expectations are shifting, and how this is shaping crypto’s end-of-year outlook—including Kraken’s IPO filing and a major Bitcoin bet from Abu Dhabi. Enjoying this content? SUBSCRIBE to the Podcast:

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9:34

Bitcoin’s Bottom Watch Begins

The Breakdown ·

2025/11/20

Bitcoin’s brutal drawdown has traders asking whether the market finally found its bottom, with price testing $90K multiple times, sentiment crushed into extreme fear, ETF flows bleeding out, futures slipping into backwardation, and institutions stepping back; in today’s episode NLW breaks down the case for and against a bottom through technicals, macro shifts, leveraged positioning, while also covering Kraken’s $800M fundraise with Citadel involvement, Tether’s strategic investment in Ledn, new OCC

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10:23

Why Coinbase’s First ICO Fell Flat

The Breakdown ·

2025/11/19

A look at why the long-awaited return of ICOs to the US started with a whimper, not a bang. The debut sale on Coinbase’s new platform underperformed expectations, raising questions about demand for new L1s, tokenomics, and whether retail ever really came back this cycle. Plus, microstrategy’s latest massive Bitcoin buy, trouble in its preferred stock, CBOE’s move into regulated perps, and a grim turn for BTC price action.Enjoying this content? SUBSCRIBE to the Podcast:

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12:06

The Bitcoin Bears Are Back In Town

The Breakdown ·

2025/11/18

The crypto market is facing a renewed period of intense fear as Bitcoin turned red on the year, briefly dropping below $93,000 amid a 10% weekly drawdown and the Fear & Greed Index hitting extreme lows. NLW explores whether this 25% correction marks the start of a traditional bear market or is simply Bitcoin transitioning into a more institutional asset with a new, potentially less cyclical return profile, noting the strange dissonance where positive structural news—like the Czech Central Bank

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2,014 results

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